Over the past seven days, Ellen and I have spent more time on buses than most Canadians do in their entire lives. Ellen wanted to fly from the city of David, Panama to Managua, Nicaragua. The cost was $273.00. "But we won't see the people, experience the flair," I said. She relented and is now resting irritably in our room in the beautiful old Spanish colonial town of Granada

The kooky thing about flying down in this part of the world is that if you stay within one country, it's affordable (as low as $30). But if you go from one country to another - bang. We met a rich Italian kid back in Costa Rica who had been studying in San Jose. After three months, he needed a visa extension. Rather than take a $10, eight hour bus ride to either Panama or Nicaragua, he chose to fly. The cheapest flight he could find on the Internet anywhere outside of Costa Rica was New York City ($240 return). So that's what he did. Called his daddy in Torino; they met in NYC for the weekend and had a grand old time.

It occurred to me on this trip, that the most popular music man on the planet has to be Bob Marley. Perhaps not in the former eastern bloc countries, China or New Zealand - where everyone is locked into a musical time warp - but everywhere else. You simply can't escape the rhythmic Reggae tuneage. On the Costa Rican beaches, skinny Latino kids who weren't even born when Bob died in 1981 wear their hair just like Bob. They're the go to guys for pot. The hair's their sign; like having a 'Get Your Marijuana Here' sandwich board draped over their shoulders.

Oh, oh. I hear Ellen. Something about 'fricking buses'. She must be having a nightmare. I'd better attend to her.